Sep 30 2010
Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) has introduced ultra-thin light guides that use the LED-based edge-lighting technology to offer a suitable solution for backlighting display graphics in numerous applications.
The light guides of GLT are suitable for backlight design-in because they offer constant, bright light for applications such as sliders, rotary switches, company logos, on/off buttons, and directional symbols.
Thin Light Guides backlight touch-enabled display graphics
The edge light technology uses high-efficiency, side-firing LEDs, and projects the light into a very thin light guide measuring 0.6 mm or less. The technology uses light extraction techniques such as Microlens that extracts the light accurately to offer uniform, bright light in a small form factor. The LEDs are spaced along the light guide’s edge, offering highly-efficient backlighting technology, and providing many benefits, such as the thin backlight panel, decreased consumption of power, lower part count, and improved control of uniformity and color.
The light guides’ thin profile is suitable for graphic interfaces using field effect or capacitative touch technology. It is placed in between the graphic overlay and the PC board / circuit sensor. The thinness of the light guides allows convenient passage for the signal to travel from the graphic overlay via the backlight, to the sensor.
The light guides can avoid the requirement for individual LED for every symbol, button, or icon. It also eliminates the use of multiple LEDs for larger regions such as company logos. The light guides are compatible with various overlays, such as acrylic, polyester, polycarbonate, and glass.